Lend Me Yours
by Formidable Rain
Summary: The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes. The heartless consume the careless. Not even those who wield darkness are immune to the danger it possesses. Our hero's heart is wrought with agony, and despite all odds, he has lost his light. The now fallen hero must face his friends as the very thing he fought tooth and nail to destroy.
1. Finally Breaking

PROLOGUE – Finally Breaking

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**A/N: And here is my prologue. Yet another overly-elaborate alternative fic from Rain. I know you think I probably should be working on some of the stuff I already have posted. Shut up. This is to take place after KHII, with the assumption Mickey's letter never came. (Or hasn't come yet? I dunno.)**

**If you're looking for a similar plot idea and a lighter, easier read, check out Yakusoku-Xion's **_**The Deep Shadow Within.**_** I was more or less inspired by the first chapter of her fic and imagined a more convoluted, angstier plot. Yes, so this is a similar idea with an overly-researched, over-thought out, embellished and obnoxiously wordy Rain touch. It wasn't until later did I continue reading her fic and find that we both sort of did something similar. Props to her, she **_**technically**_** did think of it first.**

**Now that I've covered my ass, please continue reading. I aim to please, so let me know if you'd like to see something specific in the plot and I'll see what I can do.**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any characters used.**

**Summary: The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes.** **The heartless consume the careless. Not even those who wield darkness are immune to the danger they possess. Our hero's heart is wrought with agony, and despite all odds, he has lost his light. The now fallen hero must face his friends as the very thing he fought tooth and nail to destroy. **

**Soundtrack: Buried Beneath by Red, from Sora's point of view. **

**WARNINGS: A teeny bit of language.**

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His chest ached unimaginably. The pain was excruciating, spreading through his blood like acid, pooling around his heart. The tortured organ throbbed, sending more pain through him. His breath hurt, his head ached, there was pain down to his very bones. His knees buckled and he collapsed on the sandy ground, his hand clinging to the paopu tree for support. His other hand was white knuckled as he clutched the cloth of his shirt over his throbbing heart.

Even forced to his knees he fought to stay upright. Damn it, he was stronger than this. After he had come this far, saved the worlds twice, how could he fail? And so easily? What was truly tragic was that he had no one to blame but himself. He knew the risks. He had dared to dream otherwise. How could he have been so stupid? God, it hurt.

The sun set slowly across the water, setting the world aflame with color. Waves crested serenely against the island even as Sora whimpered in agony, slowly sliding to the ground. Desperately he wrapped his arms around himself, as if trying to hold himself together. He was falling apart, splitting right down the middle. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't move.

He had lost.

No.

He couldn't allow himself to lose, not after all this. He was broken, damaged, nearly unsalvageable. But he was strong. He always had been. There was no one there for him, no one to rely on, no one to look to. He was alone. But damn it, he couldn't give up so easily.

In one last attempt of desperation, he grasped the thing that was trying to destroy him.

And held onto it.

Everything went black.

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**A/N: Oh dear, oh dear, how **_**vague! **_**I hope that piqued your interest, it certainly did for me! While this was only about 300 words, you can expect chapters around the 2,000 words mark from me from now on. Please leave a review, they make me happy.**

**Much love, **

**Rain**


	2. Save Me

CHAPTER 1 – Save Me

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**A/N: There is currently close to _no one _interested~! Now, after this chapter I had a lot of debate on what I should do next. It literally took me months to make a decision and stick to it. But finally, I know what I'm doing, and soon so shall you. **

**Soundtrack: Buried Beneath by Red still. It was a big inspiration to this entire fic.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any characters used.**

**WARNINGS: Beware of confusing time skips and long deep-thought sequences.**

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_Three months earlier_

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"Sora! It's time to get up for school!"

Said hero groaned and turned in his bed, wondering idly whether or not to ignore his mother's voice and return to blissful oblivion. His blankets were warm and his bed was soft. School was boring and the chairs were uncomfortable... His decision was made in his sleepy mind, and he buried further into the warm sheets. Dang, his mind made a damn good argument.

But as he was lazily drifting back off to slumber, there was a familiar _thump, thunk_ near his bed. However, the sound had become so routine, that it didn't even stir him. A deep voice grunted, and suddenly his warm blankets were replaced by cold air. Sora gave a childish whine and tried to salvage his sleep with his own heat, curling into a ball to conserve warmth.

"Get up, you lazy idiot. How long do you plan on sleeping?" that deep voice condescended.

Sora mumbled something into his pillow that sounded a bit like an annoyed: "morning Riku..."

Riku apparently decided Sora needed a bit more convincing, and took the opportunity to smack Sora on his bare back. Hard. The poor boy yelped, jolting at the shock of the sudden pain and falling off the bed. On the floor, Sora heard Riku's chuckle.

"Riku!" Sora growled, clamoring into a kneeling position. "How would you feel if someone woke _you_ up like that?"

Riku's glare was deadpan and terrifying, and his voice was low and monotone. His aqua-green eyes were shrouded by his long silver hair, and he stared down at Sora from his ridiculous height. "I would kill them." He answered easily, like it was the most simple thing in the world.

A pillow smacked Riku in the face.

Sleepy and irate, Sora stumbled to his feet and shuffled toward the bathroom in nothing but his boxers, completely unaffected by Riku's dark attitude. The brunette dragged his feet through getting ready, but eventually he made it down the stairs with his shirt on right-side-out and Riku in tow.

"Did you do Mr. Spencer's worksheet?" mumbled Sora as he trudged into the kitchen in search of a breakfast-like item.

"Yep." Riku confirmed, taking an apple. "Did you?"

Sora grumbled something incoherent before finishing with a slightly more intelligible, "did at least half of it..."

Sora's mother appeared from the hallway, peeking into the kitchen to find the two boys loitering there before leaving. She smiled immediately at Riku, not too terribly surprised he was here even though he clearly didn't spend the night last night. "Riku! Good morning!" she chirped in an overly-cheery voice, "You should use the front door more often, it works just fine!"

Riku sent the woman a droll smile for her familiar sarcasm. "Morning, ma'am."

"Dad at work?" Sora asked his mother, trying to sound respectful through a mouthful of half chewed banana.

His mother scrunched up her nose delicately. "Yes. Don't talk with your mouth full."

Sora swallowed.

Eventually it was time to go, and the two of them trudged off to school with Sora's mother calling out her well wishes to the two of them. On the walk, Riku explained what Mr. Spencer's worksheet was suppose to teach them, all while Sora just sort of watched Riku's mouth move. He got distracted like that, and while the last thing he wanted was to block out the words Riku was saying, mundane things like school didn't interest him.

Riku had always been intelligent. And athletic. And strong. And attractive. He was good at everything, and everyone knew it. Sora remembered Wakka always mentioning that, as long as he stuck with Riku, things would work out. Riku knew what he was doing. He could be counted on to do things right.

Which was why it hurt so much when he _couldn't_ count on Riku. He was Sora's best friend, and the only one he could rely on. When Riku turned to the darkness and his back on him, all Sora could think to do was fight to bring him back. Sometimes he wondered if Riku ever really needed him. He had seemed so competent, even when the darkness sought to control him. Was Sora just trying to feel self important by thinking Riku needed him?

"Are you even listening?"

Sora looked up and met his friend's sea green gaze. "Oh. Sorry." he muttered immediately, and quickly turned to look ahead of them. The school was in sight, and from this distance Sora could make out Kairi's red hair. Axel was right. The color red _did_ travel the farthest.

Go figure.

"Don't tell me you were just looking at me the whole time and not listening." Riku scolded dully, his hands in his pockets as he stared at the school.

"I was looking at you? Sorry, I was thinking." Sora said, brushing it off.

"That's creepy, dude." Riku said, ribbing him lightly.

"Shut up."

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_Present_

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The islands were absolutely beautiful this time of day. The sun setting over the water made everything look like it was burning, even the ocean. Riku felt a bit of heaviness in his chest staring at it after all this time. He remembered how badly he had wanted to get away from this place. How desperate he'd been, how much he'd wanted it. After he had learned of the possibility as a child, he had longed for it dearly. His home world was a prison surrounded by water. And now he had tasted it, that bit of deliriously delicious freedom and adventure. He had seen so much, learned so much, and experienced more than most would in their lifetime.

At a heavy price.

The dull ache in his chest returned, or had it ever gone away in the first place? He felt scarred, wounded and unhealable. He wondered if the destruction wrought by the darkness would ever be fixed, even after he accepted it as a part of himself. Sometimes he found himself staring into space, looking at all the mundane, normal things around him and recalling what it felt to hold Soul Eater or Way to the Dawn. That feeling of power, like nothing could defeat him. He had to pretend he hadn't experienced any of it. For the sake of normalcy.

Riku sighed heavily and leaned back against the wall from his spot on his bed. A textbook sat open in front of him and papers were scattered on the rumpled bed covers. After his life-changing adventure, he had to do homework. He could kill himself for the irony. His hand lazily rubbed the center of his chest, the ache having not yet vanished. It was easy to ignore at this point. Maybe he was wrong and it wasn't internal scars left by the darkness, and he really had a tumor or something in there. Wouldn't _that_ be ironic? He probably deserved it.

With dull eyes Riku glanced out the window, again taking in the sight of the beautiful sunset. He knew this sight by heart, the line of the horizon, the outcroppings of surrounding islands, all lit in red, yellow and orange by the lowering sun. The play island was in his sight as well, and he knew if he squinted he could just barely make out the paopu tree on his favorite little island...

Wait.

What is that?

And that smell...

No.

Riku launched forward, throwing his door open and rocketing down the stairs. He ignored his parents' questions as he leapt into his shoes and bolted out the door. He didn't know what was going on. There was no plausible explanation. They had destroyed the Heartless, they couldn't possibly be back. The darkness shouldn't be here. Not on their peaceful island. Riku's footsteps clattered loudly on the dock as he ran to his boat, untying it quickly and jumping in. They had just gotten it back, and hadn't even been back for half a year.

But Riku looked toward the paopu tree island and still saw those black tendrils of darkness reaching into the sky, writhing in the air like they were alive. Horror filled his chest when he saw another boat at the dock. Who was it? Not... He refused to think of Sora. There was no way. It wasn't possible. So he sloppily tied his boat to the dock and clamored out of it, his urgency making his steps clumsy. With unsteady steps he sprinted to the seaside shack and stomped up the stairs, taking them two or three at a time. He burst out that door at the top and stopped dead at what he saw.

In the center of that little island across the bridge was a swirling vortex of black. Tendrils of it leapt into the air and pooled on the ground as a figure stood in the middle of it. Colors like violet and blue writhed in the blackness that enveloped the figure, that figure that was so incredibly familiar even with their back turned to him.

Choking on anguish, Riku snapped out of his horror-stricken state and stumbled forward, his feet clattering on the bridge. His tongue seemed to be somewhere in the back of his throat, but he managed to choke out, "Sor-"

But the words died on his lips and he froze in his tracks when the figure turned around slowly. What he saw was not his friend. It was something else entirely. His friend's familiar bright blue eyes were without an iris or pupil and glowing bright yellow. Otherwise he was coated from head to toe in black, darkness writhing around him like snakes.

Riku couldn't believe it. It was impossible. "Sora?" he called, unsure and positively floored.

The black creature with Sora's form blinked. It was unmistakably him. The spikes of his hair were inky black, just like his skin and clothes, but it was definitely him. He looked like... Riku couldn't think, couldn't speak, couldn't _breathe._ What was going on?

And then, in a blink of an eye, Sora changed. His skin returned to a normal color, although he was paler than before, making his dark lashes stand out contrastingly against the white. His hair returned to brown, and his clothes had changed. The colors were strange; dark violet in place of blue, maroon instead of red... And there were patches on his shoulders, depicting a very familiar shape in vibrant red: a Heartless symbol.

And his eyes were no longer blue.

They were luminescent red, glowing against the darkness around him.

Riku stared.

His friend had...given into the darkness? Had he become a heartless? 'Ansem' had been a heartless, while looking very human. That could very well be what had happened. But for what reason would _Sora_ have for turning to the darkness? Sora, the one who's heart was so strong it could hold and heal others? The one who brought light to the worlds? The one who sealed away the darkness, and yet still found it within himself to accept Riku for the dark being he was?

Yet the very human Sora looked straight at Riku, his face unreadable as his red eyes burned into him. Riku found his hands trembling. He didn't know what was going on. He hated this, whatever it was. It wasn't Sora who was standing there, in the same damnable spot Riku had when he'd found the darkness all those years ago. It wasn't Sora who was surrounded by writhing black snakes that threatened to consume him. It wasn't Sora because Sora would never let that happen. It was impossible.

Riku watched Sora's lips twitch. A slight smirk. He watched his friend lift his arm, and offer him his open palm. Offering him a choice. It sent ice through Riku's veins, seeing his friend echo him in the most terrifying way. Sora stood in the very place Riku had on that horrible night, and Riku stood in his. It made Riku's stomach turn. He didn't realize he had begun to shake his head, vehemently denying. This was wrong. It needed to stop.

Sora's lips turned down, and slowly he retracted his hand.

Riku shook his head for a different reason, finally uprooting his frozen feet and dragging himself forward. "No," he said lowly, "No, Sora. Come here. Stop this." He ordered beseechingly, his eyes not hiding his horror as he reached out to Sora.

Sora just stared at him, his chin tilted down as he gazed up at him from underneath black eyelashes. His eerie blood red eyes glowed as he stared at Riku, sending shivers of fear down his spine.

Riku approached him slowly, feeling dread seize his heart at the realization that this was... actually happening. "Sora," he said again. "This isn't you. Come to your senses." Riku's foot touched the sand, finally across the bridge. "Just talk to me, alri-"

The darkness swirling around Sora's body lashed out, thrashing against Riku's chest and flinging him away. Riku grunted at the impact and cursed when his back hit the bridge, forcing himself into a sitting position as he clutched his chest. The darkness had hit him right over his heart, causing it to throb in agony. Gasping, Riku clamored to his knees to rise to his feet. "Sora..." he choked, his teeth grit against the pain.

Sora looked... unconcerned. He didn't care that Riku was hurt. It didn't bother him. That alone made Riku die a little inside, to see that uncaring look on his best friend's face. It really couldn't be him. But it was.

The dark being Sora had become only glared at Riku once wordlessly, daringly. Riku fumbled to his feet and staggered toward Sora as the shadows writhed more urgently. The tendrils reached up out of the ground and slowly wrapped around Sora's body, enveloping him in an icy embrace. First it clung to his wrists and ankles, and crept upwards, slowly, so slowly.

Riku was shouting, now full out running despite the ache in his chest and sudden numbness of his legs. The wind buffeted them, trumpeting out its rage and taking Riku's voice away with it. The sun had disappeared, leaving them in the dimness of twilight. Sora did not break eye contact with Riku as the darkness wrapped around him, swallowing him. He was sinking down, down into a dark swamp of despair. And still he stared, with the most unreadable expression that Riku couldn't even begin to fathom.

And even as Riku ran towards his friend with all his strength, he didn't reach him until he was pulled into the darkness.

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**A/N: Very sorry if the time skipping is confusing. Beware, there is more to come. Feel free to review, thank you!**

**Much love,**

**Rain**


	3. Suffocating

CHAPTER 2 - Suffocating

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**A/N: Hello, welcome back! Thank you for joining us! *sigh* It's sad when you watch your story stats and see that 51 people clicked on your story and clicked away, having not found it interesting enough to continue reading...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any characters used. Nomura-sama does. And he needs to get to work on number three.**

**Soundtrack: Faceless by Red, told from Sora's perspective. Most of my songs are for Sora. I love him dearly.**

**WARNINGS: More time skips. Some language.**

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_Backwards Again_

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All he wanted was more. Was that really too much to ask?

Sora was bored. This mundane life he had been living was beyond unbearable, even if he'd only been back for a total of three months. He was sixteen and already had seen more than there should be to life than almost all the adults he knew. He hadn't meant to become a bit jaded, but he had. He couldn't help the fact that he had matured and grown over that time. Kairi didn't seem to understand him, or Riku for that matter. She didn't know, and she hadn't experienced the same things they had.

So of course the boys gravitated towards each other, as they were birds of a feather now. It was 'us' and 'them' to the two of them. Sometimes Kairi was included in that 'us,' but it was rare. If the pair of them were considered attached by the hip before the island was swallowed by darkness, they were inseparable now.

Sora sighed and laid his cheek against the cool surface of the table. He could go for more sleep, though. He didn't like waking up early for something as boring as school. It seemed pointless. Why couldn't they start it around noon? He would probably learn more that way.

"Don't put your face on that. You don't know what kind of bacteria is on there, or if the cleaner they use on it will react with your skin." A deep voice told him.

"Should I fold my napkin in my lap too?" Sora grumbled back sarcastically, though he lifted his head from the table like it had burned him.

Riku downed the rest of his milk before saying, "Unless you want to get your pants dirty."

Why oh why did he have his mind in the gutter at that very moment? Sora elected to fold his arms on the table and rest his chin on them instead, glaring at the chattering mass of students surrounding them. Each of them were unchanged, young, and inexperienced. It irked him how different he felt from them.

"Sora?"

Said hero jerked up, startled. "Yes?" He answered reflexively.

Kairi smiled at him from across the table. "Calm down, silly. I was only going to ask for you to grab me a napkin."

Sora grumbled and rotated on the bench to lean across the aisle. The napkin dispenser was within arm's reach, but only barely. And Sora refused to remove his butt from his seat even if he had to strain and stretch to reach it. He looked utterly ridiculous. Kairi could barely thank him through her laughter.

Sora frowned at the table and leaned so he was facing Riku slightly. Bored out of his mind, he watched his friend from the corner of his eye as he picked at his food, being the slowest eater on the planet apparently. Sora noticed that while Riku's movements were precise and polite, there was an air of masculinity about even the very way he chewed. It was ridiculous, a refined-yet-manly way of eating. But it affirmed itself in Sora's mind that it _totally_ existed, because Riku could do it. Shut up.

Every dull day that passed left Sora more and more restless. When he was bored, he would sit in his room and summon the Keyblade. Then dismiss it. Then summon it again. Over and over again. He needed to know he could still do it.

He needed to prove that all that had happened to him was real, not just some random dream or fantasy of his.

And if it got too unbearable, Sora would quietly seek solace with Riku. Riku was likely even more of a seasoned veteran than Sora was. And that was comforting. He felt normal again, just by being around him. He didn't feel the same around Kairi or Wakka or Tidus anymore. They all felt foreign to him, like strange ghosts that he should know.

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_Present_

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The sun rose slowly over the water, just barely peeking over the horizon. Light reached tentative fingers across the cold sky, warming it with buttery light as it rose. Autumn was finding its way into many of the worlds, and even the temperature was gradually dropping in the paradise that was Destiny Islands. The warmth and light that the sun brought to the world did not touch the boy kneeling in the center of the paopu island. Kairi found him like that, kneeling in the sand in front of a pit he had dug with his own hands. His fingertips were raw and bleeding, and he was shivering.

"Riku!" she called worriedly, racing across the bridge to her friend's side. She tried to look at his face, but his head was bowed and his long hair covered his eyes. His lips, however, were parted slackly and his broad shoulders were slumped forward as if a huge weight pressed down on him. It was sort of scary to see her strong friend like this, wilting in defeat. Suddenly she didn't want to see his eyes, afraid of what they might hold. "Riku! Riku, what were you thinking? Your parents called mine and told them you up and left and had been gone all night!" Kairi knelt by him, reaching for his shoulder. Her voice turned into a murmur, barely distinguishable over the gentle crashing of the tide. "Then Sora's parents called and said he was gone too."

Riku twitched, but barely moved. His hands, which rested limply on his knees, slowly closed into fists.

Kairi's breath caught in her throat. "Riku..." she whispered, leaning close, "Where's Sora?"

He didn't answer.

His heart felt... empty.

He was sinking, sinking into some dark abyss. And he was alone. More alone than he had ever felt in his entire life. So much of him simply felt...missing. Slowly his eyes opened, and he found himself floating in this dismal abyss that he had thought only existed on the inside of his eyelids. He could see nothing but blackness, not a spot of light to be seen anyway. He couldn't feel anything – for he touched nothing. There was nothing but the feeling of air filling his lungs. And everything was silent. It was like total sensory obliteration.

But strangely, he was not seized by fear. He didn't know what fear was.

He slowly turned, searching for something, only mild curiosity spurring his actions. He looked down, finding he could at least see his body. It was just so dark... The silence was sending his eardrums into a frenzy as they searched for some sort of sound, until a high buzzing grew in his ears. That buzzing grew into a hum, until his ears were ringing painfully loud. He pressed his hands to them desperately, attempting to make it stop...

"So!" bellowed a sudden voice, "Been tossed headlong into darkness, have you?"

Sora raised his gaze in faint surprise, his red eyes adjusting to the dark and meeting identical ones of yellow. He furrowed his brow, frowning as he looked at the face hovering above him. It was a boy, presumably around his age, with his hands on his hips, who looked remarkably...

"You look like me." the boy stated in a low voice.

Yeah. That.

The two of them had mirroring spikes of unruly hair, only one's was inky black. Sora found himself staring into his own face, finding that they were indeed the exact same. His double wore a suit of black and red that eerily resembled corded muscle as the cords seemed to wrap around his shoulders and across his biceps. His jaw was lined with dark metal, which appeared to be part of a helmet. The boy wore belts that crisscrossed over his hips, and held up a... butt cape. Yep. Butt cape. We're going with that.

Just as Sora opened his mouth to speak, his double did the same, cutting him off. "Who are you?" The black haired boy asked, looking suspicious and bored at the same time.

For a while he had to think... What was his name again? He could remember it about as well as he could remember fear. He didn't know, and he wasn't sure. But a word came to him, and was bubbling from his lips before he could think twice about it. "Sora." He said. His voice reverberated through the silent air, echoing through the darkness.

That gave the other boy pause. He stared at him critically, eyeing him closely, his yellow eyes guarded. Sora realized what the boy reminded him of. He looked like a Heartless, all black with bright yellow eyes. The dark boy stared at him for a while, hovering in the air above him. Sora stared back, his face expressionless and his eyes dead.

Suddenly the dark boy lifted his hand to his face, his other hand supporting his elbow. His gloved fingers fluttered to conceal a smirk, but it was too late. Sora had seen it. And yet...he didn't care.

"I think we could help each other, Sora..." said the dark boy, "I think we could help each other a lot."

Sora didn't see how. As far as he knew, he had just manifested here only a few minutes ago. He had no memory of his past and even struggled to remember his name. And yet... he still couldn't find it within him to give a damn. So he only nodded. "You have something in mind?" he asked monotonously, his red eyes gazing at the boy above him with no emotion.

The dark boy's lips turned down for a moment, a slight frown playing over his identical face. But then the smirk was back in full force, taunting and arrogant as he said, "We're going to get out of here."

Sora broke eye contact for a moment to glance around them again. Just an endless dark void with no light, no sound, no end. "Where are we?" he asked, looking back to the dark boy.

The boy shrugged. "Where the dark ones go. When they're destroyed. At least that's what happened to me."

Sora furrowed his brow at this. Was he a 'dark one'? Had he been 'destroyed'? He should find that mildly alarming, at the very least. But all he felt was more dispassion. He frowned up at the dark boy, deciding to ask something else.

"What's your name?"

The dark boy stared at Sora, seeming to consider answering or not. Silence dragged... On... And on... And on... The more the boy stared at him, the more something bubbled up in Sora. It made his fists clench, his jaw tighten, and his shoulders tense. The boy only stared, not saying anything. There was some look in his eyes that really...

Pissed him off.

"It's Vanitas." said the boy suddenly, jolting Sora out of his thoughts.

So he still knew anger, but not fear. Interesting.

Sora relaxed his shoulders and fingers, and tilted his chin up to look directly at Vanitas. "Fine. How do you intend to get out of here?" he asked uninterestedly.

Vanitas smirked behind his hand. "You can do it. I sense light in you. You can get us out all on your own." Vanitas frowned suddenly, as if he was confused. "Which is odd, to say the least. What are you, exactly?"

Sora ignored the second half of his statement. "Well if I can get out on my own, why should I help you?"

Vanitas smirked, looking a bit perturbed. "Do you know how?" He challenged.

Sora pursed his lips, falling silent.

"See? You need me just as much as I need you." Vanitas claimed, his voice full of arrogance.

Oh, yeah. Sora didn't like him. He was realizing this quickly. In fact, it was becoming more and more apparent as his interaction with Vanitas went on...

"Fine," spat Sora, "Get us out of here."

"Bossy," grumbled Vanitas. But the dark boy leaned down as best he could in the lack of gravity, and offered Sora his right hand. And he waited, watching Sora with his violent yellow eyes. The more Sora looked at him, the more chaotic he seemed... This guy was off his rocker.

But he reached out and took Vanitas' hand in his, watching him warily the entire time. "Now what?" he prompted.

Vanitas could barely control the manic smile stretching over his lips. "Think of a place. Any place, just picture it in your mind, then summon your bit of light, and you'll take us there."

Sora furrowed his brow. But... He realized something. He didn't remember anything. What was he supposed to do? If he didn't remember any other place than this one, how was he supposed to leave it? His temples ached dully, and he pressed his hand to his forehead, grimacing. Why couldn't he remember? _What_ couldn't he remember? Why was he here? What was he, exactly?

He didn't know.

Vanitas' smile diminished, and he quickly grew impatient with Sora. "Oi, what's the hold up?" he growled irately.

Sora frowned, not meeting the dark one's eyes. "I-I... I just..." he stuttered, unable to form a sentence. Then something came to him. A flash of something. Something blue. And there was light yellow. And then green, and brown. A beach, somewhere. A beach with a vast blue ocean. An island, maybe, with palm trees and haphazard buildings made of wood.

His heart suddenly stuttered in his chest, painfully. He gasped in shock and agony. God, it hurt! W-What was that? Sora clutched his heart with his free hand. There was something _wrong_ with that place. He couldn't go there. Not ever. He had a horrible feeling something he knew was there, something he didn't want to remember. "N-Not there..." muttered Sora, trying to think of another place quickly as Vanitas grew more and more irate.

Vanitas snapped. "Would you hurry it along, damn it?! I've been trapped here for more than ten years, damn you, and I want out!" He shouted manically. Suddenly is arm shot out and his fingers gripped Sora's face, who lurched backwards, trying to get away. "Sit still, damn it!" With a forceful yank, he jerked Sora nearer and positioned his harsh fingers around Sora's temples.

Sora suddenly found himself thinking of a place that he was sure he'd never seen: A barren, dusty wasteland with dozens... no, hundreds... no _thousands..._ of huge metal... _things_ protruding from the ground. Like tombstones. Vanitas threw the memory into the forefront of Sora's mind, and gave him a name to go with the place:

The Keyblade Graveyard.

Then Vanitas removed his grip on Sora's face, and instead gave him a solid punch to the chest, right over his heart. Sora gasped, shocked at the suddenness of the random attack. And then finally, something closed around them. More blackness, lurching up from Sora's feet, bringing with it wisps of navy blue with it. It engulfed the two of them.

And they vanished.

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**A/N: Well, that was awfully short. As the plot moves forward, we wonder how all this came to fruition? What could have caused all this?**

**Well, these answers will be revealed. So long as you keep reading. ;D**

**Please leave a review. They make me happy.**

**Much love,**

**Rain**


	4. Reconnaissance

CHAPTER 3 – Reconnaissance

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**A/N: Thank you for joining us! Still, no one knows what's going on. Still. Well, except for me. I know what's going on. That's about it.**

**This chapter's sort of late, and it's a bit short because I had to split up the flashback into two parts and stick the second half in a later chapter. Sorry – I'm a lazy bastard. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any characters used.**

**WARNINGS: More bloody time skips. Sprinkled language.**

* * *

Kairi was baffled. Absolutely floored. Speechless. She stared at Riku, her mouth agape with disbelief. But he just stared down at his hands, remaining in the exact position she had found him in. Her thoughts were a senseless, wordless jamble of confusion. She didn't know what to think. There was _absolutely_ _no_ way this could be possible. Never in a million years would...

"Sora... was... _swallowed_ by darkness?" she breathed, her voice barely a whisper.

Riku didn't answer, but his strong shoulders tensed slightly. It was like he was being subjected with more and more weight to support, even though this couldn't possibly get any worse.

Kairi took his silence as a confirmation. She raised trembling fingers to her parted lips, pressing her palm over her mouth. She couldn't believe it. Her mind rejected the possibility – it was just so outrageous. Her Sora, so untouchable by anything malevolent, had been taken by darkness? Dear god, what could have possibly... Her eyes widened.

She abruptly sprang away from the ground, sending up sprays of sand as she stood suddenly. Riku finally moved to glance up at her in surprise. Kairi stared down at him, her hands clenched into fists at her sides, her mouth set in a hard line. In a ringing voice she said, "You have to bring him back." The urgency she felt nearly broke her.

Riku seemed to understand immediately, her exigency reaching him. He too sprang away from the sand, not even pausing to look Kairi in the eye before heading to the bridge, his strides long and purposeful. Of course he would bring Sora back. How couldn't he? Riku would search each and every world ten times if that was what it took to find him.

"Wait! Riku!" Footsteps pattered behind him, catching up to him in the middle of the bridge. Riku stopped and turned just in time to see Kairi throw herself at him, wrapping her dainty arms around his waist and burrowing her face into his chest. Riku looked down, finally remembering the recent developments where Kairi was concerned. Cautiously he draped his arms around the small girl, afraid of exerting too much pressure and hurting her.

After a few breaths – four, Riku counted – she pulled away and looked up at his face. Her dark blue eyes were full of resolve and her mouth was set in a grim line. Her slim fingers closed around his wrists and brought them together, all the while keeping eye contact. "Make sure you come back too." She said with a warning edge to her voice.

Riku stared down at her for a moment, and she slipped something into his hand. "Make sure Sora gets that," Kairi said, bowing her head.

Riku slid it into his pocket, squeezing Kairi's fingers gently in reassurance. "Okay."

Kairi looked up, wordlessly searching his face. What she found was worrisome. Her brows pulled together as Riku let her go, drawing away from her and turning to walk away. Her eyes traced the lines of his broad shoulders, all tense and drawn up. His arms were rigid, and his hands were clenched into hard fists. Kairi wanted to cry as she watched his back move farther and farther away from her. The peace they had worked so hard to establish... What had gone wrong?

Kairi swallowed the lump in her throat and looked down at the sand at her feet. She had just gotten the two of them back...

Riku's voice suddenly cut through her internal monologue, making her jolt in shock. She heard it over the crashing of waves on the beach, a single word, a name that rang so much recognition through her heart.

"Roxas?!"

* * *

_Two months earlier_

* * *

"Hey, Riku," said Sora suddenly, still staring blankly at the luminescent TV.

Riku only grunted in response, too lazy to remove his face from the pillow it was buried in. He was minutes away from sleep, but everything seemed to be conspiring against him. The actors on the television would shout, his phone would buzz, the doorbell would ring, or Sora would talk.

"How'd you get so tall in just one year?" mumbled the brunette sulkily.

Riku was silent, debating whether or not to grace such a dumb question with an actual response. After a moment, he huffed and extricated his face from the pillow to speak. "I dunno," he grumbled, laying his head on the pillow again, this time to allow mouth movement, "I ate food. Unlike you, who slept the entire time."

Sora's mouth stretched into a frown. "I was wondering about that too... How can someone be in a pod for a whole year and not have to eat, drink, or go to the –"

"Sora."

"What?"

"Shut up."

Sora grumbled to himself, but went back to watching the movie that was playing. He was staying over at Riku's house for the night, and the two of them would go to school together in the morning. Sora's eyes followed the movements of the characters on the screen moved dully, not really listening to their lines as they delivered them. He was curled around a pillow, his knees drawn up, as he sat in front of Riku's couch, where Riku lay trying to sleep. In all honesty, he felt sort of ignored.

Sora hugged his pillow to his chest, wondering why recently Riku had seemed to be ignoring him. Was he bothering him? Annoying him? The last thing Sora wanted to do was drive Riku away. He _needed_ the familiarity and comfort his friend offered. And he needed an ally in this peaceful world where nothing happened. He needed to know that _someone _knew what he went through. It was silly, he knew that, but being around Riku made him feel...normal. At least normal in the sense that someone else had been through what he had.

But with the distance Riku had been showing him these past few weeks made Sora realize – once again – Riku was the one who didn't need Sora.

He sank lower to the floor, his shoulders braced against the couch while he buried his nose into his pillow. Ugh, he felt like an ass. Why couldn't he suck it up and be fine by himself? So what if Riku was comforting – if it was going to bother him Sora shouldn't hang around him. He was being clingy, he guessed. That must be annoying...

"Hey, Sora?" Riku's voice came from the other end of the couch, muffled by the pillow.

Sora glanced up, snapped out of his self-hating thoughts. "Y-Yeah?" he stammered.

Riku paused for a moment, as if deliberating what to say. "You didn't have to shut up, really..." he mumbled vaguely, voice monotonous.

Sora blinked, confused. Then he returned his gaze to the TV, smiling a little into his pillow. "Thanks."

Then there was that. Riku had a bit of a soft spot for Sora. Not that Sora knew that.

* * *

_Present_

* * *

The air was full of dust and the swift wind was kind enough to blast it in your face. The earth was hard and solid, unrelenting and unkind. Especially when you've been dumped there midair and fall a good fifteen feet before smacking into the ground.

Sora fell from where his portal had taken him, falling onto the dusty rock on his hands and knees. Thankfully, he hadn't softened his fall with his face. He coughed at the dirt, having inhaled a good lungful, and shoved away from the ground. The light from the sun was intense after his time in the void, and he shielded his eyes from the brightness. On his knees, Sora looked around, finding the landscape the very same as the image Vanitas had shoved into his brain.

Speaking of which –

"Where are _you_ going?" Sora hissed.

Vanitas had likely landed lightly on his feet – the bastard – and already seemed to be leaving. The dark boy was clearly ignoring Sora, and lifted his hand to the empty air. From the ground an oval of darkness manifested before him. A portal, Sora's mind told him.

"Hey!" Sora called, irritated. He didn't like being ignored.

Vanitas glanced over his shoulder, as if just realizing Sora was still there. "Ah. Right. Thanks for the hand, I have things to do," said Vanitas brusquely, "Don't let that darkness there swallow you up – you might be useful later." And without another sideways glance, Vanitas stepped into the swirling black portal and vanished, taking the portal with him.

Sora huffed a sigh, now beyond caring. His lookalike was annoying as it was. He was better off without him. Pulling himself to his feet, he surveyed his surroundings carefully. The landscape was littered with those metal things – _Keyblades_ he recalled. Most of them stuck out of the ground like hands clawing their ways out of shallow graves. Platforms of earth jutted out from the relatively level ground, as if they had been yanked upwards by force. Sora squinted his eyes at the dismal landscape... Everything just felt... _dead._

Clearly he had no business here... _But,_ Sora mused, a thought occurring to him, _this place must be important to Vanitas..._ He filed that information away for later. He never knew when info on his double might come in handy – Sora may never see him again. In fact, he would prefer it. But he had a feeling that his first encounter wouldn't be his last.

Slowly he took in a breath, then let it out. There was a lot he needed to sort out with his fogged memories. He glared at the bright landscape before him, the sunlight making him feel sick. He found himself sort of wishing he'd stayed in the abyss. At least there had been no burning light there. It was hot on his back and gave him a headache.

He needed to leave. Sora thought for a while, and decided to try to open a portal like Vanitas had earlier. That was sort of what he had done in the void, right? Sora raised his hand like Vanitas had, and stopped. He would need to think of a place to go, he imagined. That was sensible. With a frown, he recalled the colorful beach he had remembered before. But he shook his head – he'd already decided it was impossible to try to go there. It was out of the question.

Instead, another place burst into full color behind his eyelids. This one was different from the beach, and thankfully wasn't the graveyard before him. It would do.

A black oval burst from the ground, colors weaving through it as light managed to peak through the darkness, only to be stifled. Without another thought, Sora stepped into the darkness, red eyes glowing with determination.

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**A/N: Okay, so I have to admit something to you guys. There are going to be *cough* a few 3D spoilers in future chapters... But, if you're anything like me, you know everything that happens anyways. Because I know _I _haven't played the game yet, and I know pretty much everything that happens.**

**Soo... sorry. :/**

**Thank you for reading! Please review! I have a goal I want to reach by chapter five! I'm setting my goals low – so all I want is like 15 or 20 by then... Make it happen!**

**Much love,**

**Rain**


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